Liveaboard Diving in Koh Bon

What To Expect On A Koh Bon Liveaboard

Liveaboards to Koh Bon take divers to this remote uninhabited limestone island in the shape of a horseshoe to the north of Similan Island no.9. As with Koh Tachai, it is within speedboat distance of Khao Lak, but unlike it, there are no beaches here so water entry is strictly from the boat only. This isolated island in the middle of the Andaman Sea is covered with forests and plants and poorly sheltered from the elements in bad weather. Koh Bon Ridge and Koh Bon Pinnacle are considered two of the best dive sites in Thailand. The marine life here is abundant, and there is a manta ray cleaning station, so there is a high probability of seeing these majestic creatures. Not as popular a dive site as its surrounding partners in the Andaman Sea, it means this site can be a wonderfully quiet one to dive, a refreshing change in the busy season of April - May. Koh Bon offers a beautiful selection of marine life and is a great destination for your liveaboard journey.

What You Can See

The underwater terrain of Koh Bon Ridge, on the southwestern corner, starts with a ridge that drops off to depths of up to 45m. A significant vertical drop, the wall here is covered in zigzag clams, anemones, and soft corals; notice their variation and changing spectrum of colors the deeper you go. The wall is worth investigating closely for critters and makes a good first deep dive. Its bay is quite sheltered and, with minimal current, provides a good spot for night dives. The western side of the ridge is covered in stunning coral formations and sea fans of different shapes and sizes and slopes down gently. These coral formations provide shelter for a varied marine life. On your liveaboard dive cruise, it is common to see resting Leopard Sharks or nurse sharks on the sandy bottom and common morays, triggerfish, lionfish, and sweetlips. The banded sea snake, octopus, batfish mantis shrimp, pipefish, and the rare frogfish are exciting additions to these waters, albeit what all divers aim to witness is the gentle gliding of the Manta Ray, here to feed and be cleaned. A dive can sometimes involve hanging around in one spot. At the same time, these curious black and white majestic beings circle and hover over you, enjoying your bubbles, demonstrating the perfect buoyancy, and then showing off their acrobatic skills.

Koh Bon Pinnacle, to the west, is more exposed, suitable for the experienced diver, and suggested only in good conditions. With 18-40m depths, the pinnacles jet out to around 25m high. With a mountainous look and feel, this small site is far from boring. The reef's sloping wall is covered in yellow soft coral, hiding decorator crabs, moray eels, and their cleaner shrimps and shrimp gobies peering out of the holes. Look into the blue for passing eagle rays, blacktip reef sharks, or manta rays. The currents can be strong here and may attract Manta Rays as well.

Getting There

The best way to get to Koh Bon is on a Thailand liveaboard trip to the Surin Islands, which will depart from either Phuket or Khao Lak. Further from Phuket than from Khao Lak (200 km north of Phuket and 80 km northwest of Khao Lak), it is worth checking what port you prefer to depart from. Khao Lak is about 100km north of Phuket and can be reached overland. Please check your itinerary before purchasing flight tickets. There are international flights into Phuket and domestic flights from Bangkok to Phuket. As part of the Similan Islands, the area is closed between May to October.


Koh Bon Diving Reviews

  • 9.2 Superb
  • 92 Verified Reviews
  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • David G
  • United States United States

Amazing, could see so many fish and awesome coral.

Diving Koh Bon in December on the Dolphin Queen

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Taylor L
  • United States United States

No mantas at Koh Bon this time but marine life was still exceptional

Diving Koh Bon in March on the Camic

  • 6.8 Review score
  • Jeffery C
  • United States United States

Poor viz, 3 dives and no sighting of the legendary manta ray

Diving Koh Bon in December on the Camic

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Danielle F
  • United States United States

Good wreck dive. Tons of fish and rays. Not as great visibility as other sites, but great sea life.

Diving Koh Bon in February on the Bavaria

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Tyrianna R
  • United States United States

I think this is where we saw a bunch of stingrays

Diving Koh Bon in March on the The Junk

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Dan P
  • United States United States

Missed out on the Mantas by one day but saw several Napoleon Wrasse on the edge of the reef.

Diving Koh Bon in March on the The Junk

  • 9.2 Superb
  • William R
  • United States United States

Three dive at Koh Bon - great finisher to round out an amazing trip. Can go deeper to explore past the reef or stay shallower and focus on macro - amazing site

Diving Koh Bon in February on the Blue Dolphin

  • 8.0 Very good
  • RAVI T
  • United States United States

Great diving and I think here is where I saw a shark as well.

Diving Koh Bon in February on the Bavaria

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Melanie G
  • United States United States

Good day and night dive. Lots of micro life.

Diving Koh Bon in April on the Dolphin Queen

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Robert Y
  • United States United States

Good visibility at Koh Bon. Marine life was excellent.

Diving Koh Bon in January on the Deep Andaman Queen

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Ian T
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Good, stay at the top of the pinical it's stunning

Diving Koh Bon in January on the Similan Explorer

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Maillard J
  • France France

Nice, there we saw the Manta ray!

Diving Koh Bon in February on the Dolphin Queen

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • JAYEON C
  • South Korea South Korea

Clear view, amazing big size of aquatic life

Diving Koh Bon in February on the The Junk

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • THIERRY L
  • France France

Excellent! 1 dive at Koh Bon

Diving Koh Bon in February on the The Junk

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • pablo E
  • Chile Chile

Best noght dive was in koh bon

Diving Koh Bon in February on the Similan Explorer

  • 7.6 Good
  • Juliane H
  • Austria Austria

Fish swarms. Though a little bit worse visibility than the days before, great dive.

Diving Koh Bon in March on the Dolphin Queen

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Natalie R
  • New Zealand New Zealand

Lovely easy divesite with heaps of diversity

Diving Koh Bon in March on the Similan Explorer

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • John M
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

I really liked Koh Bon. We dived two sites here, the West Ridge and the Coral Garden. The Coral Garden was the most varied with a Southward drift across some dead coral and some areas where there was a lot of new growth and developing coral heads.

Diving Koh Bon in April on the The Junk

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Michael H
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Crystal clear vis. No mantas or sharks this time - but we did meet the Green Monster, a very impressive thermocline caused by cold, greenish water welling up from the depths

Diving Koh Bon in January on the Similan Explorer

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Ben T
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

It thought the diving and scenery of this island was incredible.

Diving Koh Bon in March on the Camic

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Adrian H
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

I found Koh Bon's topography among the best of the sites visited. Once again the Vis made this site incredible

Diving Koh Bon in April on the The Phinisi

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Kathryn C
  • New Zealand New Zealand

Beautiful and similar to the other islands in the area.

Diving Koh Bon in December on the The Junk

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Simon V
  • Belgium Belgium

Really nice diving, beautiful reefs

Diving Koh Bon in December on the The Junk

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Krasimir S
  • Bulgaria Bulgaria

Excellent diving site. We experinced a bit of current.

Diving Koh Bon in December on the The Junk

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Joshua K
  • Singapore Singapore

Easy site to dive. Large amount of marine life and clear waters

Diving Koh Bon in January on the Dolphin Queen

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Tomaz J
  • Slovenia Slovenia

Great diving spot, huge diversity of fish

Diving Koh Bon in January on the The Junk

  • 9.2 Superb
  • julien T
  • Switzerland Switzerland

Pretty nice, we did not manage to see mantas and the current was quite strong.

Diving Koh Bon in January on the Dolphin Queen

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Chi Hung Eddie K
  • Hong Kong Hong Kong

Many species can be found here

Diving Koh Bon in February on the Camic

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Sabrina K
  • Germany Germany

Mantas, nothing more to say ;)

Diving Koh Bon in February on the The Junk

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Pierre B
  • France France

Beautiful site! Great fishes and nudibranches

Diving Koh Bon in February on the The Junk

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Rod B
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Three dives on West Ridge and encounters with oceanic mantas on each one. A life changing experience for me. As a returning 65 year old who hadn’t dived for many years thanks for guiding me to these most thrilling, amazing sites.

Diving Koh Bon in March on the The Junk

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Alba R
  • Spain Spain

Average diving. Lots of coral bleaching and less marine life.

Diving Koh Bon in November on the Bavaria

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Jan S
  • Austria Austria

Didn't find the manta rays and yet it was a great dive.

Diving Koh Bon in October on the Camic

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Felix K
  • Germany Germany

Good Diving Spot bereden 10 and 20 M. Above 10meter Bad condition of the Reef..

Diving Koh Bon in November on the Marco Polo

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Erica M
  • Australia Australia

Spectacular underwater limestone formations. Tons of sea life.

Diving Koh Bon in November on the Camic

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • lisa C
  • Canada Canada

Many rays and strong current. Challenging due to the current.

Diving Koh Bon in December on the Smiling Seahorse

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • DIANE J
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

reefs had good coral and sea life, no pelagics

Diving Koh Bon in February on the Bavaria

  • 5.6 Review score
  • Henrik Qvistgaard R
  • Denmark Denmark

Love this dive site even without the Manta, it gives a good change in topography compared to the other dive sites

Diving Koh Bon in March on the Dolphin Queen

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Sin Man Carol H
  • Hong Kong Hong Kong

Exceptional, with clear water and variety of marine life.

Diving Koh Bon in April on the Andaman

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Rishir K
  • India India

Good visibility, mixed currents

Diving Koh Bon in April on the Dolphin Queen

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Kai S
  • Germany Germany

lots of fish, nice sites, poor visibility

Diving Koh Bon in December on the Explorer

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Katie O
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Beautiful diving, lots of life and healthy reefs

Diving Koh Bon in December on the DiveRACE Class E

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Omar A
  • Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia

It was okay with medium current.

Diving Koh Bon in January on the Explorer

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Niel C
  • Singapore Singapore

Chill and relaxing dive when drift diving

Diving Koh Bon in January on the Sea World 1

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Ulf I
  • Germany Germany

Exciting. The Manta, the changing currents, two different worlds on each side of the ridge

Diving Koh Bon in January on the Blue Dolphin

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Sabrina M
  • Italy Italy

Marbel rays and many more fish!

Diving Koh Bon in January on the Blue Dolphin

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Lauren E
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Visibility wasn't great but still a beautiful dive

Diving Koh Bon in February on the Gentle Giant

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Shachar Chuck R
  • Israel Israel

Saw a white tip shark, cuttlefish and snake so can't compalain. Great site!

Diving Koh Bon in February on the Sea World 1

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Jerome B
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Some beautiful chill drift dives along the reef.

Diving Koh Bon in February on the Sea World 1